The Now & Then podcast is back, but in addition to telling new stories, we're also going to take a look back into our jar of treats. Our very first episode was three and a half years ago, when we got in contact with Mary the Ghost, and we're going to reminisce about her stories of haunting and practical joking.

The highlight of the podcast, though, is a special event next Sunday, April 26th, which will take us all back in time when the theatre specialized in silent films, and not just displaying them, but having live performers! Did you know they had those?! They will be playing a film from 1922 that actually did play at this exact theatre back then, also with live music, including our friend Sophia Mackey singing live songs!

We talk with our good friend Ian McKechnie, who's made the night possible, and Shannon Rozell, a local musician from Fenelon Falls who's been all over Canada and details her journey into composing original music, signing with a producer, and recording her first album!

Timecodes:

Intro: 00:00

Victoria Sheppard: 01:06

Episode 1 Flashback: 06:31

Ian McKechnie: 13:42

Shannon Rozell: 24:43

Outro: 36:04

00:00 Intro

01:15 Linda Brown

05:20 Open Mic

11:26 Ian McKechnie

23:24 David McMillan

31:51 Dylan John Garton

37:34 Jess Spagnolo

40:24 Victoria Sheppard

49:18 Beth Wilson

55:56 Ron Sharman

1:03:14 Outro

Welcome to our episode for Fall 2025, and Happy Thanksgiving! We have an array of guests this time with some wonderful stories.

We have Linda Brown, who co-hosts Open Mic nights at the Academy Theatre with me, and we reveal a fun opportunity to record a song of your very own for free at a legit studio. We have several guests of our recent Open Mic and their stories of who they are.

Ian McKechnie talks about a famous film and stage actress Marie Dressler and how she made her huge start here at the Flato Academy Theatre.

David McMillan is a young man now on the theatre’s committee, originally from Ottawa and having recorded for some amazing bands and working for some big-time record companies throughout his life.

Dylan John Garton is the tech guru of the theatre, and has been helping out shows since he was 13 years old. Yep. 13! He makes sure everything’s working technically, and there was something here at the theatre that really ignited his passion for the craft.

Jess Spagnolo is their new handler for Communications and Marketing, and is a renowned artist on the side.

Our General Manager, Victoria Sheppard, talks about some exciting upcoming shows, such as A Christmas Story The Musical, and we then hear from the director of that upcoming show, Beth Wilson!

Finally, we hear from our frequent theatre flier, Ron Sharman, talking about how he recently saw the Oasis band, famous for Wonderwall at the Rogers Stadium in Toronto - and he recently saw Jane Goodall speak before she passed away.

For our second summer episode, we have a bunch of goodies, but a standout is the super-famous Erica Ehm.

She has been in the entertainment and music industries for 40 years now. She started by booking shoots for the show "The New Music" back in 1982 for Much Music, and then Much Music became a national channel and Erica was the host. She's released a book, done multiple interviews for artists, musicians and cultural leaders, and she started a show called "Yummy Mummy" and a website called the "Yummy Mummy Club" which is now the largest online community for mothers in THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!!! I could go on.

We have some additional incredible guests, like Victoria Shepherd, GM for the Flato Academy Theatre, revealing some fun upcoming shows and performances for the next few months.

We talk to some people who were auditioning for the upcoming musical, an adaptation of A Christmas Story to be performed this holiday season.

There's also Ron Sharman, who's on the board at the theatre. He and his wife go to more shows at the theatre than anyone else I've seen. It was an honour to have him to be able to talk about two recent shows he's been to.

Also, my good friend Ian McKechnie told us an interesting take about a play done 125 years ago, all the way back in 1900, according to newspapers documenting an Empire Day play at the Academy Theatre!

00:35 - Intro

01:22 - Victoria Shepherd

05:43 - A Christmas Story The Musical Interviews

09:40 - Ron Sharman

17:07 - Ian McKechnie

32:38 - Erica Ehm

45:35 - Outro